THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS: FREE CHAPTER SUMMARIES WITH ANALYSIS

CHAPTER 5 - Love Is Like War: Easy to Begin, Hard to End. - Proverb

Summary

This chapter returns to Greece. Effie told Lena that all her worries about Kostos are over, because he is absolutely stupendous. Lena put on the pants and they looked even better than usual on her. Kostos was stupendous, but Lena still didn't trust boys, because her experiences have all been negative. However, she was pleasantly surprised when he commented that she and Effie looked like sisters. People usually noticed how different they were instead of how much alike which often made Effie feel badly.

Lena wanted Kostos to like Effie, so she deliberately avoided him during the party. However, he followed her out to the terrace and showed her his house far below in the village and then, even though she was giving him clues that she didn't want his company, he asked her to go for a walk around the village. She just said, No thanks, and he walked away disappointed. Lena thought to herself that if he hadn't asked her out, she might have liked him.

The action switches to Bridget at soccer camp. She came to realize that of all the guys at the camp, there was one who really stood out. He was a coach, and he was beautiful! His name is Eric Richman and he was from
L.A. He was a sophomore at Columbiana and played soccer there. Ollie, one of the other girls at the camp, gave Bridget all the information she knew about him, but warned her not to get her hopes up, because there as an anti-fraternization policy at the camp and he followed it strictly. Connie, the head coach, then called them together and explained how they would be divided into six teams, and they would have the honor of naming their own teams. All Bridget wanted was to be on Eric's team. Unfortunately, she was disappointed when she didn't make it, but she was gratified when she saw he was not immune to her blonde hair. She wrote a letter to Carmen in which she explained how only she could fall in love at an all-girls soccer camp.

Notes

This chapter juxtaposes two possibilities of romance. One is Lena who is encouraged to fall in love with beautiful Kostos, but rejects him, because she doesn't trust boys. The other is Bridget who is discouraged from falling in love with beautiful Eric, but is determined to have him. There is a sense of foreshadowing here that both are going to be disappointed at the outcome of their romantic summer.